The present invention relates generally to small electronic components adapted to be surface mounted on a larger circuit board. More particularly, the invention relates to a surface mount capacitor device for use in a variety of applications.
According to industry practice, the size of a surface mount component is generally expressed as a number "XXYY," with XX and YY being the length and width, respectively, in hundredths of an inch. Urged on by general miniaturization trends in electronic devices, considerable effort has been expended over the years to provide surface mount components of ever smaller size. For example, the marketplace currently offers surface mount RF/Microwave capacitors of sizes as small as 0402.
Despite the miniaturization that has occurred, however, further need exists for devices that are even smaller. For example, it would be desirable to provide 0402 size capacitors having less height than those currently available on the market. In addition, RF/Microwave capacitors of smaller width-length dimensions would also be very useful.